Crush
by pandorabox82
Summary: JJ finds herself crushing on Hotch after her marriage to Will crumbles. Will Blake nudge her into making the first move? Written to promote the Profiler Choice Awards


It didn't seem possible, and yet here she was, mooning after her boss. It hadn't taken long to dissolve her marriage to Will, they had both found that moving on was less painful than constantly shouting at each other when they were certain that Henry couldn't hear.

And then, just yesterday, she had received confidential information from Garcia. Beth had broken things off with Hotch, deciding that remaking Sean into a better man was more important than a relationship with his brother. It explained why Hotch was so distant and angry lately, but she wasn't sure that she could just go and make a move on him.

"You'll never know if you don't try." She turned her head to look at Blake, who was sipping from a mug of tea. Her hand was resting on the gentle rise of her stomach, rubbing it absently. "We all know that you've had a crush on him for the longest time."

She felt her cheeks redden as she tried to think of a way to deny what she was saying. "Really? You think I have a crush on Aaron?"

Blake laughed as she shook her head. "Don't even try to deny it, Jen. You have it bad for our erstwhile leader. And he may have a thing for you, too. All you have to do is take that first step. So, go for it. Be happy."

JJ smiled at the woman and nodded. "Fine, but if this blows up in my face, you so owe me ice cream."

"Deal." Gently, Blake pushed her towards the staircase, and she took a deep breath as she began to climb them, wondering if she should have listened to the woman the entire time it took to make that climb. Looking back, she saw Blake give her an encouraging smile and she nodded, squaring her shoulders before striding over to Hotch's door and knocking firmly.

"Come in!" he called out and she took another deep breath before opening the door and stepping inside. "Hey, what do you need?" he asked without looking up from the file he was working on. She couldn't answer right away, she was too focused on watching his hand flow across the page. "Jen?"

Finally, she was snapped out of her daze, and she laughed lightly, causing him to look up at her. "Blake said that I needed to come see you. She seems to think that you have a crush on me."

"She's right."

That was not the answer she had been expecting, and she felt her mouth open and close like a fish's. "Oh. All right. Um, I may have a crush on you, too."

"I knew that."

"Is there anything you don't know?" she snapped, trying to cover up her discombobulated feelings.

"Many things. I don't know how things will turn out between us, I don't know if you even want a relationship with me, even though I want to pursue one with you. And I don't know the future, or what it will hold. We're only given the certainty of this moment."

His words called to her heart and she sighed as she sank down into the chair in front of his desk. "I, for one, would like those moments to be full of the sweet certainty of a relationship. Do you think that we could make this work? That we could move on from crush to more?"

Aaron chose that moment to look up, meeting her eyes with his. The steady surety there caused her breath to catch in her throat. "I have no doubt that we will make this work. If Alex and her husband can come back together after so long apart, if Morgan and Garcia can finally quit dancing around the flirtation and settle down into love, if Rossi can find love again with an internet friend, then we can make this work."

She smiled at him before leaning in, a conspiratorial smile curving her lips. "It's not just some random woman. I…can't tell you yet who she is, but let's just say that Emily isn't the only one of our friends to pull a reappearing act."

His eyebrow arched as he leaned in towards her. "I knew that. I just didn't know that you knew that." And then, he closed the distance between them and kissed her softly. She tried to get her mind to focus on the way his lips felt, the tang of anise drops that he sucked on while filling out paperwork, but all she seemed to be able to think of was the fact that it was over too soon for her liking.

"Aaron Hotchner, for that, you owe me lunch." He nodded and sat back, still looking at her. "So, how are we going to tell our kids about this? I, I don't want to get Henry's hopes up too soon, you know. He still doesn't understand why Will left, and asks for him every day."

"We'll take things as fast as we think is best for our children. Jack feels the same way about Beth and Sean. He doesn't know why she would choose him over me. I hate to tell him that sometimes women like being able to fix people, and I wasn't fixable enough for her."

She nodded and stood, surprised when he also stood, leading her over to the door. And then, he was hugging her tightly, and it all made sense. Behind the door, no one could peek in on them, could watch the tender moment. "You don't need fixing. You're perfect the way you are," she murmured in his ear, listening to him chuckle.

"You say that now. I'll have to remind you of those words when we have our first fight."

"We'll never fight."

He shook his head as he rubbed her back softly. "Everyone fights. As long as we fight fair, everything will be all right. I promise you that."

"And I promise not to be too much of a nag." He nodded and then kissed her cheek gently. "I should go, though. I have a bit of work to catch up on, and it's my turn to play in Words With Friends. MafiaMoll already nudged me this morning, and I don't like to keep her waiting."

Aaron laughed, and JJ wondered if she would ever get used to that wonderful sound. "Heaven forbid you keep her waiting. We'll head out at one."

"Sounds like a plan." Standing on her toes, she kissed him once more, watching him blush lightly. "Until then." She sashayed from the room, listening to his ragged breathing as she closed the door. Life had suddenly gotten more interesting.

**NOMINATIONS HAVE STARTED FOR PROFILER'S CHOICE CRIMINAL MINDS FANFIC AWARDS! Calling all CM readers and authors! Join us for the annual Profiler's Choice CM Awards on fanfiction . net! Help us choose the best of the best of the CM stories on this site, and let your voice be heard. Please check out the nomination ballot and rules at the ProfilerChoiceAwards2013 Forum. All rules and information are on the forum. Nominations are due October 31st. All entries with ten or more categories filled out are eligible to win one of two Amazon gift cards!**


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